DMX waited longer than the average rapper to get a deal, so it's no surprise he had the material to release this only seven months after his debut, but I find this to be his worst album and a huge drop off from his previous album. I'm not sure if it was rushed, but many of the beats are bad, sound cheap and are easily worse than the beats on any of his other albums. Maybe Swizz Beatz, who doesn't have the most consistent production discography, producing most songs here explains it. There are still some great songs worth checking out - 'Bring Your Whole Crew' is classic gangster rap with a dope chorus that will get your adrenaline going, and there is the obvious 'Slippin'', but a good half of these don't have me going back to them. Best Tracks: Bring Your Whole Crew, Slippin', Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood

Earl Simmons is one of the artists who I first heard when I was getting into hip hop. It was 'Where the Hood At' that first gained my attention with its controversial lyrics and gritty style. Since then, he has become one of my favourites, not for his brilliant lyricism or his great discography, which ain't his strengths in the game, but his style and originality. While Year of the Dog...Again doesn't have a huge amount of brilliant tracks, I think having heard his other albums it is one of his most consistent. The only track I'm not really enjoying is 'Come Thru (Move)', and not having skits is a plus also as I felt they didn't help with Grand Champ feeling overfilled. The rest of the tracks are ones I enjoy, particularly 'Lord Give Me a Sign' which I absolutely love and would put up there with D's best like 'Stop Being Greedy', and rank up there with one of my favourite songs of all time. Of all time! A lot of it isn't reaching new ground for DMX, but he is one of those artists that if I enjoy the beats and he's spitting hard, whether talking about f***ing someone up or God, I enjoy listening to him. A lot of this is hard as nails. I don't understand the lukewarm reception from DMX fans. Beats: ★★★★ Rapping/Bars: ★★★★ Hooks: ★★★★ Best Tracks: Lord Give Me a Sign, Goodbye, I Run Shit, Life Be My Song

Overall, these trap beats are nothing new (I hope hip hop moves on soon) and a number have chorus issues such as: 'Doesn't Matter', 'Only You Can Tell It'-thanks to the chipmunk vocals-and 'Blocka' which is a bit boring as it is. Even the chorus on 'Trust You' is a bit meh.. Elsewhere Harry Fraud's producer tag continues to irritate me as well, but all in all 'Road Runner' is one of the best songs here. I hope that Pusha can get all it all together for the album as I dig his voice, but based on the quality of his mixtapes, I doubt that we will get anything special. 2-2.5 / 5. Best Tracks: Intro, Millions, Road Runner, Re-Up Gang Motivation, Take My Life

I hated his previous album. This is slightly more bearable though. When Tyler is spitting some structured bars, I can take him, but when it's just randomness/corny horrocore lyrics like 'Pigs' or 'Tamale', I find him to be one of the most unlikable rappers in the business. The beats by Tyler himself are a lot more likable than I remember from Goblin, but there's nothing sensational. The opener, 'Wolf', has some of the best production, however the lyrics and its short length are a let down. Best Tracks: Wolf, 48, Rusty

Live Again' is great. I loved it when I first heard it and it still stands up. 'Ghetto Classics' gives off a 'Ha' vibe and is another strong song. The minimally produced 'Wait (The Whisper Song)' gets points for originality regarding the vocal delivery but whispering is annoying as shit for more than 10 seconds and here we have it for three minutes. I don't mind songs about sex but they are better with some subtlety. 'Pull My Hair' follows the same formula minus the whispering. It's sexually explicit and definitely isn't over-produced. 'Bedroom Boom' is overly sappy and one of the weakest moments on the album. 'The Walk' gets us off the sex and is hard as nails and one of the better moments from the second half. A mixed bag in every area. The best moments are good snap/southern hip hop though. Best Tracks: Long Time, Live Again, Ghetto Classics, Hoes, The Walk